Attitude is a favorable or unfavorable reaction toward something or someone (often rooted in one’s beliefs and exhibited in one’s feelings and intended behavior). It is tempting to assume that there is a direct line between these favorable or unfavorable reactions and behavior. Good news for writers: people’s expressed attitudes seldom predict their actual behavior. This is because an attitude includes both feeling and thinking, and both affect behavior.
I don’t FEEL wet. I THINK I’m walking on water. I must have an uplifting ATTITUDE!
Attitudes predict behavior when these conditions are present:
Social influences on what we say are minimal (little social pressure, fear of criticism). For attitudes formed early in life (e.g., attitudes toward authority and fairness) explicit and implicit attitudes often diverge, with implicit being a stronger predictor.
I’m a good boy. I’m a good boy. I’m a… that treat is mine!
Other influences our behavior are minimal: situational constraints, health, weather, etc.
I’m supposed to stay in my cage, but that open window is right there…
Attitudes specific to the behavior are examined: e.g., expressed attitudes toward poetry don’t predict enjoying a particular poem, but attitudes toward the costs and benefits of jogging predict jogging behavior.
You’re getting up early tomorrow to go running. Sure. I totally believe you.
Attitudes are potent: stating an attitude and an intention to do something makes the attitude more potent and the behavior is more likely (recycling); asking people to think about their attitudes toward an issue also increases potency.
Someday, I WILL be taller than you.
Attitudes that are developed through direct experience are more accessible to memory, more enduring, and have a stronger effect on behavior.
Once a diva, always a diva.
Behavior affects attitudes when these conditions are present:
Actions prescribed by social roles mold the attitudes of the role players. (Think prisoners and guards.)
What we say or write can strongly affect subsequent attitudes. (Think being assigned a side in a debate.)
Doing a small act increases the likelihood of doing a larger one later. (Think foot-in-the-door technique.)
Actions affect our moral attitudes. We tend to justify whatever we do, even if it is evil.
We not only stand up for what we believe in, we believe in what we have stood up for. (Think adopting a rescue animal or donating to a food drive.)
I adopted this pet hippo. You should adopt one too. All turtles should have a hippo companion.
The question of whether government should legislate behaviors to change attitudes on a massive scale is compounded by the question of whether it is even possible.
Every day, I come a little closer to my dream of being a balloon.
Why does our behavior affect our attitudes?
Self-Presentation Theory says people (especially those who self-monitor their behavior hoping to make a good impression) will adapt their attitude reports to appear consistent with their actions. Some genuine attitude change usually accompanies efforts to make a good impression.
I meant to do that; I really wanted a lettuce hat.
Dissonance Theory explains attitude change by assuming we feel tension after acting contrary to our attitude or after making difficult decisions. To reduce that arousal, we internally justify our behavior. The less external justification we have for undesirable actions, the more we feel responsible for them, thus creating more dissonance and more attitude change. (Think threat or reward.)
This color looks spectacular on me, and blue is a perfectly normal color for a sheep.
Self-Perception Theory assumes that when our attitudes are weak, we simply observe our behavior and its circumstances and infer our attitudes (correctly or incorrectly) rather than the other way around. “How do I know what I think till I hear what I say?” And conversely, rewarding people for doing something they like anyway can turn their pleasure into drudgery—the reward leading them to attribute their behavior to the reward rather than the enjoyment of the behavior itself.
I like grass because I have a lot of it.
Bottom line for writers: to present a character’s attitudes to the reader, write what they are doing, thinking, and/or feeling. And note that each of these affects the other two and is affected in turn. Dissonance among the these creates lots of opportunity for tension, conflict, and misunderstanding!
Monday’s child is fair of face Tuesday’s child is full of grace Wednesday’s child is full of woe . . .
A Child’s Similes
This was part of a solicitation on behalf of a shelter for women fleeing domestic violence with their children. The last line is heart-wrenching,and it raises a question: was the bruise on Erica or someone she loved? All of this led me to explore two topics—child abuse and child bystanders in families experiencing domestic violence and abuse.
Writers, note: it behooves you to know about these things so your writing is realistic.
91.6% of victims (all types of abuse) are maltreated by one or both parents.
90% of victims of child sexual abuse know their abuser. Besides parents, other perpetrators known to the victim included foster parents, other relatives, neighbors, and daycare providers.
Rates of physical abuse and neglect are affected by socioeconomic status, being more common for families living near or below the poverty line.
Child sexual abuse occurs at all economic levels of society.
Most children delay or never disclose child sexual abuse to friends, family, or authorities.
Few children falsely report being abused (2-10%).
Medical evidence is found in less than 5% of substantiated child sexual abuse cases.
Child neglect is the most common type of abuse in the home.
At least 20% of substantiated child sexual abuse cases are perpetrated by females.
Male and female victims of sexual abuse are equally traumatized.
Children with disabilities are two to three times more likely than children without disabilities to be abused.
Writers: any one of these statements could be a plot point.
In 2015, an estimated 1,670 children died from abuse and neglect in the United States.
Nearly 700,000 children are abused in the U.S. annually.
Children in the first year of life have the highest rate of victimization, 24.2 per 1,000 children.
Types of abuse vary, but three elements are most common: neglect, 75%; physical abuse, 17.2%; sexual abuse, 8.4%.
NB: some children suffered more than one type of abuse.
90% of alleged abusers are related in some way to the child victim.
40% of abusers were a parent or caregiver.
Nearly 25% of abusers were themselves children.
Writers: consider these behaviors for your villains.
Several studies have analyzed the cycle of child sexual abuse, including at the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine in London and the University of New South Wales Faculty of Law in Sydney. Among 747 males studied, being a perpetrator was correlated with their reports of having been victims of sexual abuse. The overall rate of having been a victim was 35% for perpetrators and 11% for non-perpetrators. Of 96 females studied, 43% had been victims but only one became a perpetrator. Males who were abused in childhood by a female relative or who had lost a parent in childhood were more likely to become a perpetrator. The bottom line: there is evidence of a victim-to-victimizer cycle for a minority of male perpetrators but not for females.
When someone says “abuse” images of physical abuse are likely to come first to mind. However, as I learned when I volunteered at Hanover Safe Place (providing services for those suffering sexual assault and/or domestic abuse), there are at least five types of abuse.
Physical abuse: hitting, slapping, shoving, grabbing, pinching, biting, hair pulling, etc. This type of abuse may include denying medical care or forcing alcohol and/or drugs on the victim.
Sexual abuse: coercing or attempting to coerce any sexual contact or behavior without consent, including marital rape, attacks on sexual parts of the body, forcing sex after physical violence, or treating someone in a sexually demeaning manner.
Emotional abuse: undermining a person’s sense of self-worth and/or self esteem by constant criticism, denying one’s abilities, name-calling, or damaging one’s relationship with children.
Economic abuse: making a person financially dependent by taking total control of financial resources, withholding access to money, forbidding attendance at school or employment.
Psychological abuse: including—but not limited to—intimidation; threatening harm to self, partner, children, or partner’s family or friends; destruction of pets or property; forcing isolation from family, friends, school and/or work.
Writers: if you have a domineering character, consider the last three forms of abuse as tools to use.
DoSomething.org posted 11 facts about child abuse. Some of those facts not covered in the preceding:
Approximately 5 children die every day because of child abuse.
1 out of 3 girls and 1 out of 5 boys are sexually abused before they turn 18.
In 2012, 82.2% of child abuse perpetrators were between the ages of 18-44, of whom 39.6% were between the ages of 25 and 34.
Victims of child abuse/neglect are 59% more likely to be arrested as juveniles, 28% more likely to arrested as adults, and 30% more likely to commit violent crime.
About 80% of 21-year-olds who were abused as children meet the criteria for at least one psychological disorder.
14% of all men and 36% of all women in prison were abused as children.
Those abused as children are less likely to practice safe sex, putting them at greater risk for STDs.
They are also 25% more likely to have a teen pregnancy.
Last but not least, according to National Public Radio, through WBUR, the effects of abuse and mistreatment add up over children’s lives. Abuse and neglect survivors are much more likely to have physical and mental health problems later on, including higher risk of suicide and running afoul of the law. Summing across years, 12.5% of children overall have experienced at least one episode of abuse or neglect by age 18. The numbers are worse for minority children: 21% of African-American children, 14.5 percent of Native Americans, and 13% of Hispanic children.
Minority Children Affected by Abuse
HOW CHILDREN LIVING WITH DOMESTIC ABUSE ARE HARMED
It turns out that finding data on this topic was more difficult than finding info on abuse of children per se, but there are indices of the harmful effects of witnessing abuse.
Development and Psychopathology (Vol 15, Issue 2) included a research report documenting that children exposed to high levels of domestic violence had IQ’s that were, on average, 8 points lower than unexposed children. The researchers attribute this to the harmful effects of extreme stress on brain development.
The Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology (Vol 71(2)) included a meta analysis of 118 studies of the psycho-social outcomes for children exposed to “interparental violence.” Child witnesses exhibited more child problems, and witnesses’ outcomes were not significantly different from those children who were physically abused themselves.
Child Abuse & Neglect: The International Journal (Vol 32, (8)) reported that children and adolescents living with domestic violence are at increased risk for emotional, physical, and sexual abuse. They’re more likely to develop emotional and behavioral problems, and they’re more vulnerable to other adversities. The researchers concluded that the impact of living with domestic violence can endure even after the child is safe.
Children exposed to complex trauma (including witnessing domestic violence) often experience lifelong problems that put them at risk for additional trauma and cumulative impairment (e.g., psychiatric and addictive disorders, chronic medical illness, legal, vocational, and family problems). These may extend from childhood through adolescence into adulthood. (Psychiatric Annals, 35(5).)
Children exposed to maltreatment, family violence, or loss of their caregivers often exhibit depression, attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and disorders of anxiety, eating, sleep, communication, separation anxiety, and reactive attachment.
The literature on complex trauma suggest seven primary domains of impairment in exposed children: attachment, physical illness/disease, affect regulation, alterations in consciousness, behavioral regulation, cognition, and self-concept.
Writers: consider the POV of a child witness to domestic abuse.
Emma Katz in Child Abuse Review points out that the forms of domestic abuse beyond the physical are still harmful to children. Perpetrators’/fathers’ coercive behavior toward women (psychological, emotional, verbal, financial abuse; isolation and monitoring their activities) spills over to children. They often prevented children spending time with their mothers and/or grandparents, visiting other children’s houses, getting involved in extra-curricular activities at school. These non-violent acts isolate children, dis-empower them, and create a constrained world that stunts children’s resilience and development and contribute to emotional/behavioral problems.
Bottom Line for Writers: domestic abuse as it affects children is a rich vein for writers to mine. Consider the complex possibilities: whether a character, whether now a child or adult, was a child also abused, the child’s gender and age, and the time since exposure to the abuse. Consider whether a child witness would actively support the mother/victim (e.g., urge her to leave her abuser) or identify with the aggressor. Take it anywhere!
I recently blogged about the going rates for body parts on the black market, and for human trafficking. Given how my mind works, that led me to murder for hire. Murder for hire is so much a part of popular culture and fiction—and so much info seems to be out there about illegal activity—that I was surprised to find only sparse and conjectural data about murder for hire. But here’s what I found, starting with the most concrete and mind-blowing.
Cost Per Hit
Although the average payment for a “hit” is $15,000, if the offered rates are anything to go by, it can range from a few hundred dollars to a few hundred thousand dollars. And per the above list, it varies greatly by country.
From what I could find, hitmen are almost always men, between the ages of 25 and 49, unmarried. Murder for hire might stem from revenge, expediency (easier than getting a divorce), or a misplaced wish to spare the victim hurt. But by far the most common reason for murder-for-hire is either insurance policy payouts or a romantic relationship gone wrong. A study in Australia (supported by less rigorous data in the U.S.) indicates that contract killings account for 2%-4% of murders. The most common weapon is a firearm. In determining a fee, the hitman needs to consider both risk and expected expenses.
Reliable information on the cost of murder for hire is hard to come by for several reasons—most especially that successful contract killers go unpunished and don’t talk about it. But fees depend on a number of factors, including:
the difficulty of the hit
the prominence of the target
the financial standing of the employer
the financial needs of the hitman
And from low to high cost:
straightforward murder
murder that looks like suicide
murder that looks like an accident
murder that looks like natural causes
HOW TO HIRE A CONTRACT KILLER
search online
check for references (really)
don’t meet the killer in person
don’t exchange names
don’t give a reason for the hit
pay in bitcoin to avoid traceability, use an escrow to pay when job is done
other than bitcoin, if you do know the hitman, consider jewelry, barter, etc.
don’t pay 50% up front because he might take the money and run
if you advertise, don’t accept the first two respondents, who are probably undercover law enforcement
to hire anonymously on line, don’t give real name, address, credit card, or phone number, and hide your IP through Tor Browser
WRITERS BEWARE
You can’t just troll around on sites like 18th Street Gan Hitmen on the dark web marketplace. If you try to get info by pretending to be a hitman, you will be asked to prove yourself by hurting a specific person in specific ways.
Why might no one take on your job?
You don’t have the deep pockets for an assassin who specializes in political targets, disguising homicide, or disappearances.
If you don’t have a reputation within the criminal world, you are a liability: you might be an undercover cop, get cold feet, or brag about it when drunk.
You don’t seem to have enough to lose if it fails.
Reasons for failure.
Most people who want someone killed don’t know the criminal underworld, so look to family, acquaintances, neighbors, or others who are inept or inexperienced.
Most people won’t do it, and would likely call the police.
Talking publicly and widely about wishing someone dead.
Mistakenly believing that not actually doing the act means no criminal liability.
Bottom line for writers: Murder for hire could be a powerful part of your story
Today is What You Think Upon Grows Day. It’s a day to remind oneself and others of the power of positive thinking. Studies have shown that there is a major difference in the lives and health of optimists and pessimists.
Positive thinking doesn’t mean that you keep your head in the sand and ignore life’s less pleasant situations. Positive thinking just means that you approach unpleasantness in a more positive and productive way. You think the best is going to happen, not the worst.
Positive thinking like this does lead to health benefits, such as:
Increased life span
Lower rates of depression
Lower levels of distress
Greater resistance to the common cold
Better psychological and physical well-being
Better cardiovascular health and reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease
Better coping skills during hardships and times of stress
If you consider yourself a negative thinker, it’s a good idea to identify those negative thoughts and begin to reprocess them as positive. For instance, if you think to yourself, “There’s no way this will work,” you can rephrase the thought to say, “I can try to make this work.”
Remember, these thoughts and actions do not go away overnight. It takes time and practice to become a positive thinker. Why not start on What You Think Upon Grows Day? It might be the perfect start to a new, healthier lifestyle.
You may know from previous blog and FB posts that I’m enrolled in a class on nature writing. As a result, I’m even more aware of nature around me—of plants, birds, and squirrels in particular. But I’ve also been reading more about nature—particularly plants and animals, but I may move on to weather or geology at some point. But tonight, let’s talk pigs.
I grew up in farm country, with friends in 4-H who took their project pigs to the county fair, and uncles who butchered hogs on their farms. But most of us grew up hearing pig doggerel:
To market, to market
To buy a fat pig.
Home again, home again
Jiggedy jig.
To market to market
To buy a fat hog.
Home again, home again,
Jiggedy jog.
[Source: Pinterest]
This little piggy went to market.
This little piggy stayed home.
This little piggy ate roast beef.
This little piggy had none.
And this little piggy went wee, wee, wee
All the way home.
[Source: South London Press]
Virtually everyone knows the story of “The Three Little Pigs.” If not that classic, there is always Porky Pig, and even more recently, Miss Piggy—who is cited as saying, “Never eat more than you can lift.”
Pigs have been all things to all people throughout history.
From the 11th through 13th centuries, the sow and the boar were symbols of all sorts of vices in the Bestiaries, collections of fables involving animals meant to provide morality themes for sermons, or personal reflection. Pigs in 16th century art often represented sins of the flesh.
Pigs as unclean: both Islam and traditional Judaism forbid eating pork. Hindus eat no pork, while Sikhs eat very little pork.
The contradictory roles of pigs in Greek mythologyis beautifully illustrated by the legend that a sow was supposed to have suckled Zeus and a wild boar killed him. In ancient Egypt a pig represented the spirit of Osiris when crops were planted and the spirit of Seth when they were harvested. Nevertheless, they were considered unclean, and drinking pig milk was thought to cause leprosy. Tantric Buddhists worship Marici the Diamond Sow. The Kaulong section of Papua New Guinea is a pig culture—which is fascinating, and too much to go into here, but there is a saying there: “Pigs are our hearts.”
On the positive side: 2019 is the year of the pig in the Chinese zodiac. It comes around every twelve years. In 2007, it was the Year of the Golden Pig, especially auspicious because a Golden Pig year comes only once in every sixty years. The personality of Pigs is supposed to be kind and understanding, an able peacemaker. Pigs are excellent conversationalists, truthful and to the point. A Pig believes in justice and law and order, rejects all falsehood or hypocrisy.
Pigs for sport.
Greezed pig contests
Pig races at the Michigan Spree Festival
Random facts:
Pigs are the most ancient of nonruminant mammals, existing forty million years ago—long before humans.
Pigs exist in one form or another in every part of the world.
In three months, three weeks, and three days, a sow can produce a litter of eight piglets. With competent treatment, they can be ready for market in six months.
Toothbrushes were invented in China and originally used boar bristles; today, industrial and consumer products are practically limitless, from plywood adhesive and dye to glue and bone china.
Beyond bacon: because of similarities to humans, pig heart valves, insulin, and porcine bur dressings. These are just examples of pharmaceutical uses, which rank second only to meat in importance.
You can’t sweat like a pig because pigs don’t sweat.
Pigs put on one pound of weight for every three pounds of feed they consume.
If there is an option, pigs do not wallow in their own waste.
Pigs can be housebroken.
Pigs in phrase and fable:
don’t cast pearls before swine
don’t buy a pig in a poke
can’t make a silk purse from a swine’s ear
graceful as a hog on ice
hogging the (x)
eat like a pig
eating high on the hog
living high on the hog
sweat like a pig (see above)
pig out
going whole hog
going hog wild
looks like a marzipan pig (i.e., prosperous)
fat as a pig
happy as a hog in shit
in a pig’s eye
piggy bank
piggyback
hogging the road
pigs get fat and hogs get slaughtered
being a porker
Bottom line: Pigs are ubiquitous. Is there a place for pigs in your writing?
A mandala (emphasis on the first syllable) represents the universe, and has symbolic and ritual importance in Hinduism and Buddhism. Hinduism is an Indian and Southeast Asian religion and dharma (way of life). Buddhism is a practice, like yoga, and can be practiced by people of any religion.
Mandalas may be used to focus attention, as a spiritual guidance tool, for establishing a sacred space, and as an aid to meditation and to induce a trance. The basic form is a square with four gates containing a circle with a center point.
Vajrayana Buddhism has developed sand painting mandalas. And that brings us to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, which has a special exhibit “Awaken: A Tibetan Journey Toward Enlightenment” open now. According to the VMFA, “From May 2 through May 5, a group of Tibetan Buddhist monks from Drepung Loseling Monastery will create a sand mandala near the exhibition’s entrance, which—in accordance with their beliefs and practice—they will dismantle in a return visit on Aug. 3. Their visit is part of the Mystical Arts of Tibet World Tour that has traveled for more than 25 years and is endorsed by His Holiness the Dalai Lama.”
This week, I saw the Tibetan Buddhist Monks beginning that sand painting mandala. I could stay only little while, long enough to watch as they used a protractor to mark reference points on the circle.
They chalked thread or thin rope which two monks positioned across the circle. A third monk then picked up the center of the thread and dropped it, leaving a faint white chalk line.
No doubt by today, May 5, the mandala will be an elaborate and beautiful work of art. I intend to see it completed. I heard that when it is done, they will cover it on glass to preserve it during its time on view. And I will appreciate it all the more because, in accordance with their beliefs and practice, they will dismantle it on Aug. 3. I also heard that it will end in the James River—but that may be just gossip.
This sand painting is only a small part of the exhibit, which occupies ten spaces. The exhibit is on view April 27 through August 16.
Prejudice is an unjustified or incorrect attitude (usually negative) towards an individual based solely on his/her membership in a social group. In my opinion, prejudice is relatively benign for the target person if the prejudiced person does not act on the negative attitude. Unfortunately, this is seldom the case.
Discrimination is an action or behavior (including verbal)—usually negative—towards an individual or group of people on the basis of the prejudice. This is where the bad happens. Employment opportunities foreclosed. Inequality in lending practices. Lack of access to educational opportunities. Denial of goods or services (e.g., refusing to make a wedding cake for the wedding of a gay couple). Hate crimes.
A classic example of prejudice leading to negative behavior:
So, one big question for you as a writer is what your character does as a reflection of his/her prejudice.
Although prejudice is an umbrella term for all sorts of -isms (as seen in the image above) it is also a subset of attitudes. And prejudice includes all three components of an attitude: cognitive, behavioral, and affective—how one thinks, behaves, and feels about a person, object, or act.
But before you can write realistically about a prejudiced character, you need to decide what function the prejudice serves for this character.
Cognitive adjustive: Lacking other information, one accepts stereotypes and/or prejudiced views as a way of knowing how to think and behave with a stranger.
Social normative: Holding attitudes—including prejudice—that allow the person to fit into a group or social setting. This might be family, gang, town, workplace, social class—any group the person wants entry to.
[Source: Brookings]
[Source: Creative Commons]
Ego-defensive: The person is basically insecure and adopts a prejudice to bolster feelings of self-worth. If a person has perceived lacks or failures, one way to feel better about oneself is to develop negative attitudes toward a whole group of people who, by the nature of who they are, can be viewed as inferior.
So, do you want your character to change? Depending on the function served, prejudice may be more or less entrenched. If it is based on lack of information, education and factual data will result in attitude change. Sometimes it’s as simple as getting to know members of the group. If it is based on group membership or conformity, changing reference groups will lead to attitude change. For example, moving to a different part of the country, changing schools or jobs, marrying into a family with differing attitudes, etc. The ego-defensive function is the most difficult to change. A person might suppress expression of deeply held biases when they are socially unacceptable (i.e., politically incorrect) but allow them expression when the atmosphere is right. Hate speech, hate crimes, and the rise of white supremacist groups are examples easily tracked online.
The ego-defensive function is highly robust. Prejudice serving this function is immune to factual evidence to the contrary, simply not believing the data. If, somehow, the facts cannot be denied, then one or more other groups might become targets of his/her prejudice. Eliminating prejudice for such people often involves psychotherapy because the cause is rooted in self-esteem, self-concept, and other deep psychological needs.
Often prejudice is negatively related to the mental health of the prejudiced person. For example, racism is a symptom of lack of psychological integration, self-esteem, and inner security. Similarly, sexism is unhealthy. Psychologists looked at 10 years of data from nearly 20,000 men and found that those who value having power over women and who endorse playboy-type behavior, and who hold traditional notions of masculinity (such as self-reliance), were more likely to experience depression, stress, body image issues, substance abuse, and negative social functioning. So if your character’s prejudice is racism or sexism, consider giving him/her some of these other characteristics as well.
Last but not least, consider how your character’s prejudice might bring him/her into conflict with others.
“Costume-clad kazoo players and drummers jubilantly respond to the Westboro Baptist Church.” [Source: Style Weekly]
Bottom line: Prejudice is a rich resource for writing your characters!
